Abstract
Reproduction, the ability to generate offspring, represents one of the most important biological processes, being essential for the conservation of the species. In mammals, it involves different cell types, tissues and organs, which, by several signaling molecules, coordinate the different events such as gametogenesis, fertilization and embryo development. In the last few years, the role of Extracellular Vesicles, as mediators of cell communication, has been investigated in every phase of these complex processes. Microvesicles and exosomes, identified in the fluid of ovarian follicles during egg maturation, are involved in communication between the developing oocyte and the somatic follicular cells. More recently, it has been demonstrated that, during implantation, Extracellular Vesicles could participate in the complex dialog between the embryo and maternal tissues. In this review, we will focus our attention on extracellular vesicles and their cargo in human female reproduction, mainly underlining the involvement of microRNAs in intercellular communication during the several phases of the reproductive process.
Highlights
Cell-to-cell communication has allowed the development of multicellular organisms in which cells do not live alone but have to respond to different signals, contributing to the safety of the whole organism
Some authors supposed that secreting Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) could represent a mechanism used by cells to leave out unnecessary molecules, their involvement in intercellular signaling, has been widely discussed [1]
The detailed characterization of the different molecular cargos opened new promising applications in diagnosis and therapy: to find non-invasive markers of different pathologies, to identify new therapeutic targets and to develop innovative drug delivery systems [4,5,6]. According to their size and the biogenesis mechanisms, EVs are classified in exosomes, microvesicles and apoptotic bodies
Summary
Cell-to-cell communication has allowed the development of multicellular organisms in which cells do not live alone but have to respond to different signals, contributing to the safety of the whole organism. By means of EVs, different molecules such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids (DNA, mRNAs, non-coding RNAs) can be transferred from donor cells to recipient cells Because of their involvement in physiological cellular processes and in human diseases, EVs and their cargo have attracted several studies, ranging from different fields of biology to medicine [2,3]. The detailed characterization of the different molecular cargos opened new promising applications in diagnosis and therapy: to find non-invasive markers of different pathologies, to identify new therapeutic targets and to develop innovative drug delivery systems [4,5,6] According to their size and the biogenesis mechanisms, EVs are classified in exosomes, microvesicles and apoptotic bodies. We will discuss the involvement of EVs in human female reproduction, focusing our attention, on EVs in follicle maturation, implantation and early embryo development
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